Janet Jackson’s Breast vs Jack Abramoff’s Bust
It says something loud and clear about our national priorities that we’ve cultivated (and even celebrated) a culture of greed, while narrowing our eyes to pinpoints over lust.
We are at one and the same time a nation that demands CBS be fined for having (however briefly) exposed Janet Jackson’s breast during the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show and the world’s largest consumer of pornography.
Say what you like about the Janet flap, but pornographic it was not. And all of this would be ancient news, were it not for the recent smutsmanship awards, hosted by the FCC and its shiny new Chairman.
Whatever definitions they have over at the Federal Communications Commission, the dictionary says ‘pornography’ is ‘creative activity (writing or pictures or films etc.) of no literary or artistic value other than to stimulate sexual desire.’ Left entirely to debate among others in FCC-land, is the question, what in the world is wrong with that?
Thus are we shamed by our nakedness and famed by our greedin…